


Taking a Fall

by psykotisk



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Blood and Violence, But some have it worse than others, Dark Past, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone's got problems, F/M, I used a human as live bait, Memory Loss, Near Death Experiences, Smoking, Suicidal Thoughts, inner demons everywhere, what's your issue?, you get an inner demon you get an inner demon EVERYONE GETS AN INNER DEMON
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 03:49:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15404304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psykotisk/pseuds/psykotisk
Summary: Agent 000 has lost all meaning in his life.While wrapping up an investigation in Alola, he stumbles upon the opening of an Ultra Wormhole where a young woman, a blue-haired Faller, is tossed suddenly into his care.Now, Agent 000 has to deal with his inner demons as he tries to make up for his past mistakes that led to the slaughter of another Faller, all the while by watching over this odd woman.As time goes on, 000 is encouraged by the optimistic Faller to deviate from his daily routines and haunting past to find happiness where he least expected it.Maybe life isn't so worthless after all...?





	1. The Man who Burned his Life to Ashes

It was a very pleasant day, but one lone individual was blind to it all.

It could have been -30C, down pouring with hurricane force winds, and he wouldn't even have registered it.

The sun was beaming brightly up in the sky as fluffy, white clouds lazily drifted through the sweet smelling air. The largest clouds lingered far beyond the reaches of the island's shores, promising the day would be free from any inclement weather.

Spatterings of palm trees provided spots of cooling shade along the shore and they followed along a walkway leading to the beach. Their fronds waved gently in the tropical breeze, beckoning others to come nearer to the ocean. But for whatever reason, the pristine beach that was hidden away by Route 12 was vacant that day. Its call for company still was not to be ignored, as a quiet man began to drift away from his prior destination and to the secluded shore.

A crawbrawler was hunkered down dozing peacefully at the base of one tree along the path. It snored merrily in its slumber, not even bothering to look up as the man walked by. A man who wore an exhausted expression and vacant, bloodshot eyes. A man who looked to somehow be sleep walking in the middle of the day.

Wingulls flew merrily through the warm air currents, calling gleefully out to one another in their shrill tones. Their shadows passed lightly over the earth as the gulls lifted higher into the air. The man walked far below the bird types, his mind resting somewhere higher even than the birds, completely unaware as their shadows passed over his form.

Off in the ocean, sunlight caught on the schools of wishiwashi glimmering lightly just below the surface of the glassy tropical surf. Here and there, a larger pokémon’s fin would break across the waves, but there was no panic among the smaller fish. Everything was as calm as could be.

It was another day in paradise, but it certainly wasn't so for this man.

Agent 000 ventured to the end of the path leading to the secluded beach and he hesitated just a moment before setting his first step into the sand. He was lucky not to have crossed paths with many people as he made his way to the beach. He had no way of explaining to any concerned local why he had such a grim expression stuck to his face on such a lovely day like this. He had no way to answer why he was even being drawn to the beach.

As a matter of fact, he was hoping he'd find some answer or sort of peace in heeding the call of the waves.

The man took a shallow step from the path, sand crunching lightly under the sole of his Oxford shoes. He took a few more measured steps closer to the water, but halted a meter away from the waves and he stood still, gazing out at the water.

The peace of the ocean and its lapping waves seemed to overwhelm the man. He scrambled to dig into the pocket of his pants for a carton of cigarettes. As soon as he drew the box from his pants pocket, he forced a cigarette to his lips with a shaking hand. He shoved the carton away but continued to dig through his other pocket and withdrew a box of matches.

Though he struggled for a moment to get the match to catch fire, once it was lit, he cupped his trembling hands delicately around the small blaze. He brought the match gingerly to the cigarette, now planted firmly in his mouth, and he drew in a deep breath.

Smoke broke from between his hands as he dropped his match onto the sand and he buried it into the ground with his shoe. The man took a few serious drags at cigarette as he ran his hand through his dark hair, his hand still struggling to remain still.

The man solemnly looked out into the water, still searching for an answer to a question he didn't even have.

His eyes carried shadows from days going off of no sleep and a cold sweat lingered insistently on his brow. Leaving the cigarette resting in his mouth for a moment, the man rolled up the sleeves of his white button up shirt. When he finished, he finally withdrew the cigarette from his mouth. He coughed up a black cloud of smoke and again became lost staring out at the sea.

Agent 000 couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom lingering in the back of his mind. It had started as an unsettled feeling some few weeks ago, like every now and then he felt as if he had forgotten to complete some sort of unfinished business, but as of the last 72 hours, it had finally come to a breaking point.

He couldn't sleep. He couldn't eat. He was just sucking away at his tobacco sticks, praying for dear life that whatever was going to happen would just hurry up already.

Whatever this bizarre tension was, the man worried it was going to do him in.

After all, he knew he was prematurely greying, but in the last few days alone, he swore he found more salt than pepper on his chin and a spot by his temple was now almost entirely white. The day prior, he took notice of creases he didn't remember on his own face. Fatigue and restlessness leaving their strict reminders strewn about his skin, refusing to leave him be.

000 sighed deeply. He hated to admit it, but he was actually aging before his own eyes. The stress of this oppressive feeling was far too much for even this experienced INTERPOL agent to handle.

000 knew the Agency had faith in him & his hunches, but now, he wasn't sure he would be up for the challenge that was coming his way. Whatever he was going to face on this island would be his duty and his alone. 000 was usually content to be a lone wolf, but for some odd reason, he couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling like today he was in it six feet over his head.

Agent 100kr would be returning to Alola shortly, so he would have back up soon enough, but 000’s internal voice told him something was coming fast and soon. He strongly doubted that 100kr would be back before this storm settled in.

There wouldn't be any time for back up.

Agent 000 was in this  _alone_.

000 tried to push his thoughts to the back of his mind. He brought the cigarette back to his mouth and he slowly began walking towards the hypnotic, rolling waves. His eyes were half lidded in pure fatigue, his hazy maroon eyes barely could find focus or interest in anything.

His uncertainty led to him reflexively to checking his person. 000 absentmindedly felt at his belt, giving himself a small bit of reassurance that his pokéballs were all there and at the ready for when  _it_  decided to happen. That was one good relief, because as much as he trusted his own judgement, he trusted his monsters even more.

000 sighed, knowing at least his team was literally at his side, but it still did little to push this creeping feeling away. Even as he checked his shoulder holsters to verify that his handguns were loaded and ready to go, 000 could not ignore the truth.

The charged atmosphere in his mind was building up to something terrible. His inner voice was rarely wrong and the man lived by his gut decisions. It was only now that he found both systems of guidance to be totally useless.

000 wished at many times in his life to turn everything off… once even getting too close to ending everything with his hand pushing the cold barrel of his handgun against his own forehead.

Right now, he was again so close to submerging himself completely in the lapping waves and letting the final bubbles of tension leak out of his soul so he could finally be free from all this madness.

The man walked haltingly towards the water, his dark thoughts encouraging him closer to the surf. He took another deep drag from the small nub left of the cigarette and he simply let it fall loose from his mouth and fall into the sand. He wasn't even aware he had lit the cigarette, not to mention smoke the thing down to its filter, so he paid it no mind as the cigarette left his parched lips and he continued on his jarringly slow walk to the water’s edge.

He did everything on auto pilot any more. He was barely living his own life. He had just been going through daily motions. He was getting so dreadfully tired of it…

And that water…

It looked so warm. So peaceful. A thought wandered aimlessly through his mind… What it would feel like to have the last but of air in your lungs squeezed out, only to be replaced with water & death? He had once heard drowning was a painful way to go, but 000 couldn't shake the thought that it was just the right ending he deserved.

A horrific death for a wretched life...

Before his foot stepped into the darkened sand, outlining where the waves would reach on the shore, 000 retreated backwards and gave himself one last try to control his faculties.

These damn dark thoughts had been coming through his mind like a line of tsunami waves over the past few weeks, slowly and mercilessly eating away any sense he had left. Even trying to break through this incessant gloom had become too much. He felt like his true self did not even exist any longer...

000 tried to uselessly clear his mind as he stood just where the water and sand met. He watched a few waves rush up, only to be a few inches short from reaching his Oxfords. He smiled grimly and stared out again to the ocean.

Somehow that feeling of submerging himself died out as a wave reached out and stroked the sole of his shoes. The water touching his person snapped him back into reality with a very gentle touch. He was grateful, after all, who would want to leave this place on such a glorious day?

000 put a hand to his chest as his lungs swallowed upon themselves. That foreboding energy put an acrid taste in his mouth as his stomach lurched. That feeling was finally rising to its sharp climax.

The agent laughed bitterly as he closed his eyes and he fell down to his knees, bright sand flinging onto his neatly creased black trousers. He folded his hands over his face as a deep chuckle rattled through his chest.

_He couldn't handle it anymore._


	2. The Girl Who Cheated Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He begged for the rain and the storm to shake the world around him, but as the lightning broke the sky and shattered through the earth, the foolish man only then realized his mortality._
> 
> In other words: the Faller enters the scene.

_Come on! Come on, I dare ya! Do your worst! Just do it!_

A wave splashed gently across his lap, the tide rushing too quickly back to the shore as a wild gust raked through the trees.

The crawbrawler cried out, it was forced awake as the wind howled past its shell, and it ran off somewhere safe into the underbrush as the wingulls began squawking at one another in fright, taking higher into the sky to escape the now vicious air currents as all the glimmering fish took deeper into the water.

000 laughed roughly into the brunt of the wind, knowing the worse was only yet to come - …!

But then, the wind suddenly died out.

000 stopped laughing at once and he opened his eyes. He gazed about in confusion at a very still scene. The waves slowed to a stop and the air died down entirely.

_But where was the - ?_

A bright light ripped open somewhere out in the water, roughly a kilometer out to the sea. The light shined through the calmed surf radiating hues of green, blue and purple. The ocean was glowing ominously setting the entire body of water alight and then, all at once, it was gone.

000 began to stand, confusion and concern written legibly across his face.

The water suddenly retreated far back into the ocean and a deep roaring echoed through the air. Though he knew signs, he didn't even believe his eyes as the water came swelling back to him. 000 was not yet fully upright as a violent wave ripped through the ocean and crashed onto the beach, choosing to take the agent with it for good measures.

He had just a moment to take a deep breath and let out a string of curses before the water dragged him under, throwing him into a wall of sea foam & stirred up sand.

The wave surged forward, pulling the depths of the ocean with it, engulfing the entirety of the beach as it swelled. The sandy beach was now some odd feet under the waves, making it completely unrecognizable from even two minutes ago.

000 had been pulled viciously into the tumultuous wave but he still had his senses about him - it would take more than a sudden tsunami to do that! He opened his eyes, which stung in the salt water, and he looked around, searching for the way up and a source to the ocean’s sudden anger.

Just as he was about to break for the glimmering surface, the man caught a glimpse of a limp body rolling in the strong undertow. The figure was wearing a sort of hospital gown that twirled around their legs as their body was slowly being turned about, like they were simply a doll to the ocean’s mirthful waves.

They were motionless besides their long hair, which was moving in hypnotic swirls under the surge. With a renewed sense of determination, 000 swam forward, his wet, heavy clothing slowing him down only ever so much, but he was determined not to let that person escape his grip.

Even if it wouldn't be him, 000 would save  _someone_  today.

The wave was still surging forward, which aided 000 in reaching the unconscious person as they were drifting towards him all the while. As soon as they were within an arm's reach, 000 clasped onto the person’s arm. He groaned and pulled them towards his body, just as the ocean began to reverse its flow, thudding mercilessly back into the sea.

000’s eyes widened as he released his last bit of air. He fought desperately with one arm wrapped around the person’s waist, kicking vigorously until he broke through the surface. 000 gasped wildly as he continued further inland, pulling the person's head out of the cruel waves and he dragged the other person out of the water and onto the disfigured beach.

Not allowing himself time for any error, 000 gently placed the person on their back, pulling their wet blue -  _blue?!_  - hair out of their face and he immediately placed his ear by their mouth to check for signs of breathing. He coughed a few times himself as he then checked their neck for a pulse as he glanced at the person he rescued.

She was a young woman that appeared ill or something close to dead, with a pallor frighteningly similar to that of a corpse. Her face was drawn up in a pained expression and light freckles were dappled across her nose. She seemed by all accounts to be nearly a completely average person.

000 frowned as he considered that this girl was what the past few weeks had been building up to. He didn't know who she was or what was going on -  _wasn't a UB supposed to come through that light? Not some blue haired girl!_  - but, regardless of the bizarre state he found himself in, 000 promised himself he would bring the girl back to the land of living.

000’s heart was set racing as he found no source of life in her. He knew he was running out of time to revive her. Water was still raced away from the shore, breaking between their two bodies, trying one last time to take both back into its gleaming depths.

000 cursed gruffly as he moved to perform chest compressions on her. As rough as he could be and as little as he cared for himself, the agent put every last drop of energy into this poor girl. He worked diligently, but as he stopped to monitor if her chest was moving at all, 000 cried out an anguished curse and he then drew himself up to her face.

He gently tilted her head back and lifting up her chin. He breathed in, pinched her nose shut with his hand and pressed his mouth against hers, performing CPR. After 30 seconds of doing so, the agent frantically drew himself back and began doing chest compressions again. He cursed himself again and his inability to do anything right as he moved back to do CPR. As he began to force breath back into her airways, the girl suddenly convulsed and coughed up a surge of salt water straight into 000's mouth. He pulled himself away and coughed roughly as girl coughed in fits and fought to gain her breath back, as well.

000 helped sit the girl upright as she choked out two lungfuls worth of fluids, her one hand clasped tightly around his as he kept his other at her back, supporting her upright. He gripped the girl's hand tightly as she forced out the last of the liquid from her chest cavity. Her skin was chilled to the bone and he could feel that she was shaking something awful.

000 couldn't help himself from repeating, “It's OK. You're gonna be OK,” as the girl fought more water out of her body.

When she finally drew in a ragged breath, 000 sighed gratefully. She looked like she had just been cheated of death. Her gown was glued with wetness onto her pale skin and she had a small stream of water dribbling out of her nose and her open mouth that was gasping away like a fish stranded on land. But, no matter what, she was alive. He had managed to make himself useful at least one more time. 000 patted her on the back as she fought to fully regulate her breathing.

Still fighting for air she turned to 000 and rasped, “Thank you.”

000 nodded and remained by her side until her breathing rate began to normalize. Her voice was very frail, but she asked kindly if she could lie down in the sand. Her trembling hand left his, which left him with a very strange cold,  _hopeless_  feeling in his empty grasp.

Perhaps he was still in a state of panic over the girl?

_Yeah, that was probably it._

000 helped her lie down and the girl threw her arms above her head as she brought more of the warm air back into her body. 000 turned away from her shortly, after verifying she was not at risk of death stealing her away, and he pulled out his phone and contacted his base.

_Thank arceus for water proof technology._

He dialed in his extension as soon as the line connected. As he waited for a voice to arrive on the other end, 000 looked down to himself, laughing at his soaked through outfit. This was thankfully a moment in time where the Agency couldn't hold him to a strict level of formality. They wouldn't possibly reprimand him for not adhering to their high and mighty standards just this once and he took brief levity in knowing that a near death experience was the only thing that could break the mundane laws of his life.

There suddenly was a shrill voice barking into 000’s ear, breaking the agent entirely away from his track of mind. The voice immediately threw a barrage of angry questions at the agent, of which 000 groaned and pointedly refused to answer. Instead, 000 commanded they send an emergency team to him  _immediately._

Alola was far enough away that even if the Agency supplied him with aid immediately, it would still take at least a day of travel for anyone to arrive.

With that in mind, 000 demanded the man arrange and deploy a team to him  _at once_ , all the while the man on the receiving end of the call idiotically began reading through emergency protocol and an additional number of questions to discern what was going on. 000 was in no mood for bureaucratic repetitive questioning and as the man on the other side of the phone continued to prattle off another number of forms and ID numbers he needed from the agent, 000 groaned and hung up.

Agent 000 looked down at the phone and in a moment of pure release, he lobbed the phone off into the waves. That piece of technology would be the only prisoner the murky depths could keep hold of today. A brief smile overtook his lips and he turning his attention back to the girl lying on the sand, who was now just breathing heavily while stretched out on the warm sands.

000 rubbed his hand through his hair, mussing with his wet hair as he brushed his bangs off his forehead. He felt grateful that he didn't have to fight any sort of UB today, but it took him only a short time before he realized that ominous feeling he had been hosting for the past few weeks had dissipated entirely.

000 took a moment to himself and he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a white undershirt that was clinging helplessly to his form. As he began to wring out water from his shirt, 000 considered the potential reality of the next few days. Another warp hole could form, descending monstrous creatures into the poor islands. Or, maybe this girl was it. 000 referenced back to his gut feeling and he truly felt like nature had returned to normal.

The agent glanced over the shimmering waves with an uncertain look caught in his eyes. Whatever was going on, he had a full day at the very least of staying with this girl and keeping her alive until the emergency team could find out who or what she was.

In the meanwhile, he would waste his time waiting for this team, instead 000 thought it would be best if he could get her some medical attention. But he could give her a few moments of peace, after all, the girl made a long sort of journey today.

But, 000 couldn't give himself a moment of rest. He had a million questions on his mind, but feared he was nowhere closer to finding an answer to any. Also, worse of all,  _why did he suddenly have a Faller in his hands?_

A morbid curiosity overtook the agent’s mind as he glanced back to the girl. He squeezed water out the end of his button up shirt and smirked.

“Who exactly are you, girl?”


	3. Memories Rose Like Ghosts from the Grave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Those who can't leave the past behind will find memories hidden behind every corner of their life._
> 
> _It's only fair they can bother you as much as you pester them._

000 sat in an uncomfortable vinyl chair that was in the back row of the waiting room, forced in between a side table supporting a collection of torn gossip magazines on its surface - complete with inarticulate headlines and all! - and a table that held a small one-cup coffee maker along with styrofoam cups, dry creamer, sugar packets and the likes. The small machine was hissing and spitting up waves of steam as it worked away at filling 000’s third cup of coffee. 000 made eye contact with the grinds canister and groaned. It was some generic, under flavored brand of coffee grinds that were provided and sitting out at the table.

Since being recruited to INTERPOL, 000 had enjoyed a massive upgrade in his lifestyle and his palate had shifted majorly over the last few years, as a result. Whereas back in the day, he would have thought this “ _Sunstone Brand Coffee_ " to have been an arceus sent gift, now the drink made the agent’s nose turn upward in disgust and his taste buds recoiled while he nursed the brown sludge. As he waited for his first cup to brew, he had taken humor in reading that the canister had listed a recommendation of a certain amount of cream and sugar to use with their coffee, so it would be “ _perfect for any coffee connoisseur_!”

 _It was because the coffee’s flavor profile itself was nothing short of crap_ , the agent chuckled to himself. The final brewed product needed a cup and a half of cream with seven sugar packets just so the liquid could even pass at tasting vaguely like a genuine cup of joe.

But considering the state he was in, the agent gladly accepted the murky brown stuff, despite admittedly wincing upon having his first sip. After his cup was filled, the agent took the drink -  _black, of course, the man would die before he willingly allowed any amount of sugar into his body_  -, blew the steam off the top of the cup and walked over to peruse the vending machine settled by the check in window. He sipped at the terrible sludge while looking over its various offerings.

Before he could even see through the machine to its product line, 000 became focused on the sad reflection of himself. While drying, his hair took on a very messy look, bangs pushed this way and that, as cow licks were propped up on the back of his skull. His once prim and proper, well-ironed clothes contained so many wrinkles. His shoulder holster was taken by the nurses as he checked the Faller in, and his white button up was untucked and dangling around his form. He looked like hell and didn't feel all that much better than he looked.

Forcing his eyes away from the old man he saw in his reflection, his gaze connected with a pack of pomeg berry filled cookies he hadn't seen in years.

A rare genuine smile broke through his grim facade as memories of his miserable youth flowed through his mind. His eyes took on a weary sheen as he remembered a young broken boy, a dark haired, brooding teen who was so close to going off the rails. The kid who had to fight every day to survive… Sick emotions rushed through his gut as he thought back on those days when he had scrounged for coins around the city, just so he could use the old string and coin trick to override the vending machines, until the shopkeepers caught on to him and chased him away, like he was a wild animal. Some days, those fruity cookies were all he had.

And suddenly, he was back there.

Back  _then._

000 stood in the shadow of a dirty alleyway and his eyes locked with the glare of a fiery teen resting behind a dumpster. The kid was passing a cookie to his meowth, who had the same angry flames in her slanted eyes. 000 ran his hand through his messy hair and sighed weakly as the kid and cat munched noisily away, visibly distrusting of their new visitor. The anger in the boy and meowth had charged the atmosphere considerably.

It was like staring into the eyes of a caged beast.

“ _Can't you leave me alone already, kid_?” 000 groaned. He felt his frustration level rising to a bubbling point. He was in bad need of a cigarette.

“ _Fuck off_ ,” the dark haired boy hissed, cookie crumbs stuck to his lips. “ _Can't **you**  leave  **me**  alone_?”

000 stared down at the boy, shoving his fists into his pockets, finding nothing inside them. Guess that smoke would have to wait.

“ _What are you saying, boy_?”

The kid scoffed and ran his dirty sleeve over his mouth, cleaning his face from cookie residue.

“ _I'm pretty sure it ain't me who’s all caught up in this scene_ ,” the teen coughed, a sick rumble caught in his chest. 000 had forgotten how weak and scrawny he was then. How deeply he ached inside and how much he suffered back in those days.

000 was about to speak, but the boy’s meowth hissed and protracted her claws. Teeth and talons pointed directly to the agent. 000 stepped back as the meowth pounced in front of her partner with a yowl.

“ _I suggest you get outta here_ ,” the phantom boy whispered to his older self. “ _We aren't accepting visitors right now._ ” A vicious smirk painted itself onto his face.

000 lifted his hands up in defeat. He tipped his head to the angry kid and was about to turn around, when his eyes suddenly snapped open. His forehead struck into the glass of the vending machine with a dull  _thunk_.

He was back in the hospital waiting room. A hot cup of miserable tasting coffee grasped in his hand. Pungent, sterilized air wafting around the room. 000 sighed deeply and he began to make his way back to his uncomfortable seat, dragging his feet, his wet dress socks sloshing in his shoes, as he walked by the rows of seats.

000 dropped down into his chair with a groan. The day wasn't even halfway through, he felt a hundred years older than when he started for the day. The agent set his cup of murk on the side table and he rubbed at his weary eyes. From here, he feared the days would only get longer.

As the clock on the wall above him ticked away, 000 became lost in thought again. His coffee cooled as the minutes moved on, with or without the agent aware of the passing of time. He began chewing on his thumb knuckle absentmindedly as his thoughts became to deep. It was an annoying habit he picked up a few years ago when he needed to feel his mortality, to bring him back to his senses. The sharp pain was enough at most times to bring himself back to earth. But, this habit was so unprofessional, so childish, even. And, like most of his problems, even when he intentionally tried to drop the habit, nothing changed.

_Nothing ever changed._

Same old, same old. It was the curse of his life.  _Ever since…_

His memory rushed to the face of an innocent woman. Her smile was so bright, so charming. To 000, she was the sun after a stormy night.

_She never deserved the fate he served unto her._

Then, his mind shifted suddenly to focus on the hue of her blood. It was  _so red, so vivid_. It rained down upon the earth and over the agent’s body, like a waterfall. It barely seemed real, even in his mangled memories, regardless, it almost had him puking.

In trying to find something to distract himself from his racing thoughts, the agent spied an old model TV propped up on the wall opposite of his seat. The outdated thing was sitting on a wooden shelf a few feet off the ground, probably as to keep the screen visible, even when the room was packed.

But, today wasn't one of those days. 000 couldn't stop his mind from going into detective mode as he observed the rest of the room. There was a young man pacing just in front of the door leading to the rest of the hospital. He was wearing what looked like sweatpants and a sleeping shirt. He was disheveled and had a nice shadow of stubble outlining his face. 000 sipped at his drink, taking a guess at the man’s predicament.  _A father-to-be_ , 000 reasoned as he set his styrofoam cup down again.

A petite, brunette lady and her young red haired kid were waiting in one of the two middle rows. The kid was sleeping, with his head resting in his mom's lap as the woman stared ahead blankly, tears staining her cheeks, while she stroked the boy's hair. A small duffel bag sat besides the woman's purse on the ground. It was a light pink with a floral design and a blonde haired doll was poking out of the zipper, her arm extended, waving out to the rest of the world. 000 shifted in his seat as he tried to get a better glimpse of the bag. Some name ending with “ _-lani_ ” was embroidered on the front of the girly bag. Whether it was  _Leilani_  or  _Keilani_  or  _Nalani_  or  _whatever_ , he couldn't tell, but it was certainly a girl’s name.

000 leaned back into his chair and he breathed in sharply as he turned to look over to a tall man, who was standing at the check in counter, whispering with a pleading voice to the nurse behind the window. His red hair was a dead giveaway to his link with the woman and the kid.

The agent could only guess at what had happened to that family’s daughter, but he respectfully turned away from them. His little detective game put him deeply into a saddened mood. The agent glanced back up to the television, his eyes barely paying attention to the show’s going-ons.

Though he was completely tuned out to the static-y applause of the game show playing on the ancient thing, it at least gave his eyes a distraction. Something to look at, rather than the despaired people he was sharing the room with and his now bloody thumb.

The game show host led the contestant to the side of the stage where a woman in a gaudy pink dress was gesturing dramatically to three doors, which were labeled “ _A_ ,” “ _B_ ,” and “ _C_.” The contestant moved to the podium that was placed just before the doors. 000 scoffed as the camera zoomed in to focus on the contestant. The man was smiling too much, he looked insanely artificial and even more so as the intense lights were beaming down onto the stage. The sweat dripping down his cheek made the man look like he was a melting wax figure. 000 stretched out his legs and folded his arms behind his head. The show wasn't anything truly entertaining, but it was something of a change, at the very least.

“ _So then, Max, which will it be? You have your pick between the three doors and whatever prizes may be hidden behind them! Now remember, one of these doors has nothing - **nada!**  - behind it. Then, if you end up choosing the losing door, you risk putting everything you've won so far on the line! But, you can't forget, one of these doors is hiding the grand prize behind it, which can over triple your winnings_!” The audience began cheering wildly.

“ _Even though there's a greater possibility that you won't win, it's definitely a chance worth taking_ ,” the painted lady chirped with an over-sized smile. “ _What do you think, folks_?”

000 smirked.  _Stacked odds, who doesn't love having them against ya_?

The audience cheered as their contestant -  _Max, was it?_  - nodded his head wildly. “ _It sure is_!” His artificial smile grew wider somehow. “ _Let's do this_!”

As he watched the pointless show in the chilled room, 000 was grateful that the usual screaming in his head was dying down. The mundane programming was enough to sidetrack him….

But not for long,

“Sir?” A quiet young woman’s voice pierced through the short-lived silence.

000 stayed focus on the TV though he could see the nurse approaching him from the side.

“ _Sir_?” She repeated again, less meekly this time.

“Hm?” He grunted in response, watching Max point at the door of his choice.

The nurse seemed flustered as she looked down over the paperwork. “Well, sir, your fiancée would like to see you now.”

000's eyes shifted suddenly to the nurse as the lady on the game show began opening door “ _B_.”

“ _What did you say, now_?” The agent barely could get his voice to work.

“Your fiancée, sir. She was asking for you.” A look of confusion stretched across her face.

000 laughed lightly as he reclined in his seat. He pointed over to the pacing man with a smirk. “I think you got the wrong guy.”

The nurse’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Sir, I'm not playing games. I've had a long day and I…” The nurse sighed deeply. “She wants to see you,” she gestured to the door connecting into the hospital with both of her hands. “so, if you please,” her tone more stern than before. “ _Follow. Me_.”

000 frowned and waved his hands in front of his body. “Seriously, lady, I'm not playing with you. I ain't got a fiancée.  _Promise_.”

The nurse rubbed at her temple and put her hand holding the clipboard on her hip. “ _Listen_ ,” she hissed under her breath. “She told for me to go find the most exhausted, miserable looking guy in this place.” She shifted her stance and glared at the agent. “I don't see anyone more miserable than you around here.”

000 almost -  _almost_  - felt insulted.

“So,” the nurse snapped her fingers. “come on,  _lover boy_ , let's go.”

000 hesitantly sat up as the nurse turned on her heel and began to speed away. The agent shook his head wearily and began following the nurse. He looked back to look at the TV once more.

Apparently, they had just opened the door. Max had a look of excitement pasted to his face, his eyes wide open and his mouth was frozen into an oval in shock. The cheers of the audience rose to a shrill pitch as 000 walked out of the room, still completely unaware if the contestant had won it big time, or lost it all...


	4. Breaking through the Tumultuous Surf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In trying to alter the course of his Fate, the man laughed haughtily as he took hold of the reigns of Life, knowing he was now the one in charge!_
> 
> _But, the ropes suddenly tugged back at the man. It was in fact Life who still had control, and thanks to how tightly he clung to the reigns, Life spun about the ropes and caught the man squarely in its trap._
> 
> _The silly man was now in a far worse state than he was ever before._

“Here he is, honey,” The nurse propped the door to room number 221 wide open with the toe of her shoe and waved 000 inside with her clipboard. “ _He’s all yours_!”

000 gave the nurse an annoyed glare as she unceremoniously forced him into the room. The nurse was fully aware of the agent's undignified scowl and with a light smack on his back with her clipboard, the woman smirked.

“And you're definitely right, girlie,” the nurse nodded to 000 who was lingering awkwardly in the doorway. “He's the  _most miserable looking guy_  I've ever seen!”

000 was about to turn around and give the nurse a piece of his mind, what with her last comment and all, but the nurse had backed into the hallway and was well on her way to her next patient with a chansey at her side. 000 grunted in exasperation as he stepped into the bright room, too tired to even consider the next challenge that was awaiting him within.

He turned about slowly, but that didn't make his pain any less.

There she sat. A question mark thrown into his life, but a new welcomed distraction from his usual misery. The most recent trial to enter 000’s world. Probably the least threatening obstacle he had ever faced, too. But, regardless, there she was in all of her odd glory.

_The blue-haired Faller._

She looked a lot less gaunt in a hospital gown that fit her properly, for a change. Her complexion appeared a lot more natural than when he fished her out of the water, but her freckles still stood out prominently on her fair skin. She seemed to be roughly five to ten years younger than the agent himself and she was playing the part of his junior well with that childish pout on her face.

The agent sighed again. This wasn't going to be easy for either of them today.

000 took another step into the room, closing the door with a quiet  _click_  behind his heel. He peered up deliberately through his bangs, hoping to give himself another minute to prepare for this next battle.

_She wouldn't dare give him the chance._

The room was warm and bright, sunlight was streaming in through the open blinds. 000 knew hospital rooms to be a solemn place of gloom, but this room was the strict opposite of anything he had ever experienced. This place, though, it even had a perfect view of the ocean. The window was cracked open, where a pikipek was preening itself on the window ledge. The rustling of palm fronds and the surge of the sea to whispered into the room and filled every corner with a delightful cheerfulness. It was a beautiful setting, but the Faller’s oppressive dark energy lingered in the room, sapping the life out of all the brightness the room had to offer.

The woman sat there on the bed stationed against the wall, propped up in the center of the room. Her arms were crossed sternly in front of her chest and her eyes pierced unfathomably into his soul. An IV had bitten into her arm and fed into some intravenous contraption that was standing besides her bed. She had an audience of a number of computerized systems that were also surrounding the girl, scrutinizing her every bodily function and waiting to cry out the moment anything fluctuated.

A vibrant old-fashioned travel poster featuring a laughing couple and their pokémon taking a walk down a scenic beach was hooked onto the wall, next to the window. In colorful, exciting font, the thing read, “ _Welcome to Alola, where everyone is your ohana_!”

Underneath the poster, two stools were stationed in the corner. A small counter top with a sink was pushed in the corner by the entryway by where 000 was standing. There was also a small TV set out on a short cabinet across from the bed, buzzing quietly. It was playing a famous old, black and white comedy show where a zany woman was trying to concoct a way out of being blamed for something or another by her husband. All together, it nice little hospital room, by any standard, especially when compared to his darker days in a similar room. That is, minus the girl's death glare locked onto him, of course.

As 000’s eyes stopped observing his surroundings and glanced to the Faller, his usually strong gaze suddenly faltered. He couldn't help but turn from the girl and avert his sight.

Her eyes were like staring into the sun. Far too painful to keep staring at for long and he feared he'd go blind with elongated contact with her.  _And how had he not register the Faller’s fierce gaze before_? Her irises were a bright turquoise that seemed to shimmer as the light caught in her gaze.

Impossibly so, the girl perfectly radiated the chaotic energy of the ocean. Dazzling and stunning with a deadly darkness contained at her core. He knew for certain that she held secrets in her depth and though he couldn’t reason why, 000 was itching to bring them to the open air.

Tuning back into reality, the agent froze abruptly as her glare continued to bite into his soul. He feared her intense gaze was somehow able to see through him perfectly. As if she could see straight through the patches he fit over the dark spots in his life. As though she was lifting them up and peaking in at the scars he had tried to hide from the rest of the world.

Whatever she was, her eyes held far too much power in her eyes.

000 shuffled closer into the room and brought his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing at a sore spot while trying to think of what to say. For one of the first times in his life, the voices in his head shut up entirely. 000 was at a baffling lack of words. Try as he might to think up anything to say, his voice had become mute.

Luckily for him, the Faller was the first break the silence.

“I'm still mad at you, you should know.” She huffed at him, puffing up her cheeks in anger. Her voice rang clearly with some peculiar sort of lilt in her voice, a dialect or accent he couldn't place. She turned her head dramatically away from him and toward the window.

Agent 000 kept his distance from the Faller’s bed. “What do you mean, girl?” His voice came out in his normal rough tone, though he feared some sort of gentleness was creeping out with his every word.

“A real gentleman wouldn't make a lady walk that far while shes taken ill.” The girl leered into his soul again. “I really didn't appreciate that.”

000 blanched slightly at her remark. As good as it had felt to whip his work phone into the hungry abyss of the ocean, it took him but a minute to regret his decision. Just as he was about to dig the Faller out of the sand, it occurred to the agent that he had no way of dialing emergency services.

“That was my fault,” 000 admitted gruffly. “Sorry. I didn't mean for you to suffer on account of my poor decisions.”

She perked up at his moment of weakness. “Your ‘ _poor decisions_?’” she questioned, sounding uncertain.

“I'm not sure if you were all there when I did it, but I threw my phone into the ocean.” 000 interlaced his fingers behind his head and leaned backwards a bit, his half-lidded eyes and posture made him look far more lax than he actually felt. “Not my smartest move, I’ll admit,” he chuckled.

The Faller dropped backwards into her pillow. “You could have called for a taxi then, instead of making me walk in that hot sun after I nearly  _died_!” She frowned at him, feigning weakness though an absurd strength radiated out of her eyes.

“Hey, now,” 000 snapped gently back at her. “to be fair, I offered to carry you three separate times before you chose to take me up on it.”

He instantly recalled the sea-soaked girl wobbling as they walked back into the city and how she took her good time before finally accepting his offer. Dying or getting hurt just to prove a point wasn't the smartest decision a person could make.

 _This one’s got a lot of pride, don't she_? He had thought to himself with mirth.

When she had finally climbed on his back, the Faller wrapped her sand-dusted arms in a death grip around his neck, her head rolling with his every step like a she was a broken doll.  _A broken, wet, sandy doll._

“Plus,” the agent added with a rub to his nose. “There ain't no taxi service on this island.” The Faller sat abruptly upright looking concerned. “Unless you're talking about those hariyama drawn carriages, but,” he continued carefully. “I don’t think you are. You're meaning something like those awful yellow cars that putt around the city, ain't you?”

“No taxis?” She spoke quietly, uncertain of herself and her confused mind. “How are there none -  _where did they go_?”

“Nah, we've never had them at all,” 000 continued. “People here on the islands are really particular about keeping nature clean, can't say that I blame ‘em. They've got a unique sort of ecosystem here. A lot of people thinking that it needs protection. So, most folks don't have cars. Hell, I don't even know anyone here on Ula’ula that has one - everyone gets around the island on pokémon or by their own means.”

“ _Island_?” she started, sounding shocked. “What do you mean ‘ _island_?’  _We're on an island_?!”

000 cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, Ula’ula in the Alola region. It's a chain of a few islands. You ever heard of it before?” He tried, softly.

She shook her head slowly from side to side. “No, I've not.” Her head bowed down as she began to fidget with her fingers. “The doctor said I must have hit my head.  _I guess this is the amnesia talking_ …”

The two remained in silence as an odd suffocating feeling enveloped the room.

Suddenly, she bolted upright, giving 000 a jump as she focused back at him. “But I've never heard of this place before!  _I swear_ , I have never been to an island region before! I would remember that!” Her voice was desperate, as if she was trying to convince herself that she was right.

The agent nodded. This was a good enough segway as anything.

000 walked across the room and pulled a stool over to her bed and sat down closely near her side. “Listen, do you remember anything?  _Anything_  at all?” He gestured gently with his hand. “What was the last thing you remember before you met me?”

“‘ _Met me_ ’, why aren't you absurd!” The girl laughed at 000, who sat up straight, looking perplexed.

“What the hell do you mean by tha-” 000 barked to her amusement.

“I can't recall what I was doing just before coming to,” she interrupted him suddenly, sounded a lot more focused now. “But, I can remember quite a lot of other things!” The Faller chirped proudly.

“I know this show,” she stated hastily, pointing to the TV. The woman on screen was run wildly away from her angry husband after she flipped a pie in his face, while the studio audience laughed merrily at the scene. “I know I love popped corn. And I know…” Her voice drifted off as her brow creased, as if she was fighting to remember something or anything else.

“ _Such as_ ,” 000 tried with a sly smile on his face. “ _Your name_?”

The girl jolted in the bed and she took up a disapproving glare. “Yes,  _of course_ , I remember my name!”

000 raised his eyebrow sharply at her. “ _And that would be_ …?”

The girl’s head swiveled around the room, searching for something. Her eyes locked onto the poster and 000 could see her wide eyes scanning it, hopelessly begging for help.

“ _Well_?” The agent asked again.

The Faller snapped back to meet 000’s glance. Somehow she appeared as though she was holding back tears, a broken frown was etched into her face.

“Lola.” She called out. “My name is Lola.”

000 looked over to the poster, obviously doubting her conviction.

“You sure you didn't take that straight from the poster?” The agent asked, he couldn't help it as the smirk stayed on his face.

“ _No, I didn't_!” Lola shouted defensively. “That's my name and I'm  _certain_  of it!”

000 lifted up his hands in defeat. “OK, fine, I won't question you again on that matter.”

“It's not a ‘ _matter_!’” She shouted sharply, a blush sprinkling across her face. “It's my name and that's the end of this discussion!”

000 nodded, still smiling at her angered expression. He snapped suddenly and pointed back to the Faller.

“Well, that works out for me, 'cuz I have another discussion to start with you.” 000 put his hands on his hips and leaned in toward Lola. “Now where did you get off to, saying I'm your fiancé and all? I get it if you said it to the docs just to let me back here, but I want you to know, girl, I'm not one for games like that.”

“What? I would  _never do that to you_ ,” Lola frowned, her voice was genuine with hurt.

“What on earth are you saying?” 000 peered into her eyes, looking for the answer she wasn't giving him. “You've never met me before today.”

Lola snorted at him, mockingly. “Now, you're playing with me!” She jeered. “That's not fair!”

000 leaned backwards on the stool, his hands set on his knees. “Seriously, girl - Lola! What are you talking about?!”

His frustration was coming back. It was a shame the water ruined his pack of cigarettes and his matches. He was  _really_  dying for one now.

“Stop lying to me!”

The Faller now moved in towards 000, her face coming uncomfortably close to his own.

“I'll admit that I'm having a hard time remembering things, but I know something's that are true.” She huffed, her face growing redder by the minute.

“My name is Lola, I really do like popped corn, and you are my fiancé.”

000 moved backwards, away from the Faller.  _This was too much_!

“I'm not!” He cried out loud. “I think I'd remember if I offered my hand to some girl, especially some girl I just met today! If you keep up with this nonsense -”

“ _Nanu_ ,” her stern voice cut through his, like a hot knife through butter, effectively silencing 000 immediately. “ _I don't appreciate this at all_.”

000’s face reddened. No one had called him by that name -  _his true name_  - in years. Not since he parted ways his old, terrible life. He made sure to see to it that Nanu died when Agent 000 was born.

“ _You_ ,” 000 gasped, caught completely off guard. “How do you know my name?”

Lola tilted her head towards him and playfully flicked the end of his nose. She gently grazed her fingers over his cheek. 000 was frozen in utter shock.

“I think I'd at least be able to remember the name of the man I've agreed to marry,” a sincere smile blossomed onto her face.

000’s head swirled wildly as she embraced the agent, tossing her arms as well as she could around his neck.

“After all, you would never be able to forget me, would you?”

000 was trying to force a word out of his mouth, but before he could release it, Lola pressed her lips onto his own. The voices in his head came wailing back at full force as the Faller kissed him, his hands hopelessly hovering over her back. For a change, each screeching voice was crying out the same thing.

_What the hell was going on?!_


	5. Dancing with the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A smiling girl and a gentleman meet on a path alone._  
>  _The two may never come to know_  
>  _How many bodies the other's buried below_  
>  _They are merely two passing wolves in sheep's clothes._

000 burst into the phone booth and - before he was entirely even in the receptacle, the agent ran his paycard through the reader - he slammed the door shut behind himself. With a shaking hand, he began smashing the keypad, dialing the only phone number that came to his mind.

He held the receiver between his shoulder and ear as he got a chance to finally put his cigarette to his mouth. He was lucky enough to bum a smoke off of one of the nurses that was on break on the side of the building. He greedily took a deep drag of the thing; the relief was immediate as the drugs entered his system.

The line rang, but 000 couldn't even hear the sound over all the voices screeching wildly in his mind. He gripped the top of the phone box and cursed harshly under his breath, dearly hoping that wherever 100kr may have been or what time it was, he would still answer his damn phone.

A light  _click_  brought the agent out of his frantic thoughts.

“Allô?” A crisp tenor sounded through the headpiece.

“ _Looker_!” The cigarette nearly dropped from 000's mouth as he shouted, thrilled to hear the young man's voice. He gripping tightly onto the payphone with both of his hands in excitement. “Arceus above, it's good to hear you, man!”

The voice on the other end of the line chuckled. “ _Zeroes_? I don't believe my ears - am I really speaking to Triple 0 right now? I haven't heard this much emotion in your voice since… Hey, why the hell are you calling me from some public number?”

“Don't worry, it's me alright. I had a rough day. Lost my phone. Nothing too bad,” 000 shook his head, a weary smile still lit up on his face. “But you wouldn't believe what’s going on here.” One hand grasped the receiver as the other hand plucked the cigarette from his mouth, releasing a large plume of smoke from his lungs. “I'm seriously in way over my head.”

“Unless I heard wrong, another Ultra Wormhole popped opened didn't it? What UB came through? Is everything alright there?” The tone of concern in 100kr's voice was refreshing. 000 could always count on him for support - even if 000 would never admit how much he trusted the junior agent.

000 shook his head as though his coworker could see him. “No, no UBs. But, something worse,” he sighed, holding the rest back. Despite the insane situation he found himself in, he still truly enjoyed torturing his junior.

“Something worse? What the hell happened, Zeroes?” 100kr’s voice had taken a lower pitch, as if he was trying to keep the conversation from being overheard. “Talk to me.”

000 put the cigarette in his mouth, clenching it between his teeth, frowning severely. “I've got a Faller on my hands.”

He heard the man choke on the end of the line. “You  _what_?!”

“That's right,” 000 sighed out a weak cloud of smoke. “But that ain't even scratchin’ the surface. It's even worse than that.”

100kr remained silent on the other end, giving 000 a chance to just barely make out a unintelligible conversation in the background.

_They had company._

000 knew 100kr well enough that his junior would ever sell him out. 100kr had caught him doing a number of semi-illegal things over the past few years since they first worked together. Regardless, 100kr knew 000 would do whatever was necessary to do the right thing…

Sometimes, the agent had to get down and dirty to get the results he wanted.

Either way, 100kr had other people around him. Who they were wasn't important, but he had allowed the conversation to fall into silence for a reason.

000 rubbed his temples. It was all much more stress than he needed right now.

“How?” 100kr probed carefully, saying no more than he need to. “How can it possibly be worse?”

000 was reluctant to answer, but he knew he could trust 100kr with his life. “The girl - the Faller - she  _knows_  me.”

There was another pause between them, which was broken only by 100kr clearing his throat. “That can't be good.”

“Looker,” 000 glanced around outside of the telephone booth, searching for any busybodies or eavesdroppers. “How soon can you get here? To Ula'ula?”

100kr sighed. “I'm wrapping up the last bit of paperwork for an investigation right now with some,” he coughed lightly. “ _Superiors_. I can be on a ferry over there first thing tomorrow.”

“Thank arceus,” 000 pulled the cigarette from his lips and took a deep breath of relief. “I was expecting worse.”

“Zeroes,” 100kr started, his voice slightly strained. “I know you and your... tendency to follow protocol to a 'T'," 000 scoffed sharply at his sarcasm. "But I need to ask you something: have you contacted HQ about this?”

000 shrugged and leaned against a wall of the booth. “I did,” he started, matter-of-factly. “Didn't tell ‘em everything though.”  _Or really anything at all_ , he thought with a devilish grin.

100kr made a pleased sound on the other end. “Good. Until anyone gets there, keep an eye on her. Don't let the girl out of your sight, do you hear me?”

000 smirked as he wrapped his tongue around the filter of his cigarette.

“Well,  _shit_ , Looker, are you giving a command to your senior officer?” 100kr cried out in a muted sound of anguish. 000 waited a cruel second before continuing his thought. “I'm damn proud of you for cracking outta your shell, boy. Keep it up and maybe one day you can take this old hack's job.”

He heard the younger man’s tinny chuckle from the other end. “I read you loud and clear. I’ll bring you a burner to last you until the Agency gets through to you. Take care, Zeroes. I'll be there soon.”

000 opened his mouth to respond, but caught the line  _clicking_  off before he could speak. The agent hung up the receiver with a scoff, aggressively drawing another drag from his cigarette.

“Hugs and kisses to you, too, Looker.”

 

* * *

 

000 began the walk back to the Faller's room, feeling a little bit more hopeful of his situation, but still entirely against the idea of returning to Lola’s bedside.

He just didn't know what to do with her yet.

A chubby nurse greeted 000 with a hearty smile at the reception window. Her name tag, reading Meia, had a sticker of a vanillish on it, giving 000 a rather colorful image of who he was dealing with. The woman wrinkled her nose in disgust at the smell of smoke leaking off the agent, but she was kind enough to ignore it as she welcomed him back and attached a blue visitor's badge to his breast pocket. 000 groaned as she forced a packet of paperwork into his hands that he'd have to sign and fill out with the Faller, all the while she prattled on and on about something or another as his hearing shut down.

_Whatever she was saying couldn't possibly be important._

The woman bid him a good day as she sat back down at her desk. 000 was content to walk away and be done with her when the nurse cleared her throat, apparently trying to grab his attention once more. 000 looked up from the massive waste of paper weighing down his hands and saw the nurse staring at him all too keenly with her big, deerling eyes.

“I hate to intrude,” she started, 000 holding his tongue from saying anything rude or otherwise insinuating that she actually quite enjoyed intruding upon other's affairs. “But one of the other ladies told me about you and your  _fiancée’s_  situation.”

“Oh, did she, now?” He huffed, knowing for sure it had to have been that evil nurse that first dragged him up to the Faller's room in the first place.

“Uh-huh, she did,” the girl smiled proudly, completely oblivious to 000's scary face. “So, we got to talking - Loni and I, that is -, seeing as that poor girl was in all sorts of bad spirits when you left the room after your silly prank and all,” the lady moved to the edge of her seat and put a hand up to her mouth as if she was telling him a secret. 000 sneered at her as she attempted to beckon him closer, but when he didn't budge, she instead hoisted herself up to the window itself.

“We were thinking that you should bring her a gift!”

000 glanced across the hallway, glaring at the small gift store that was tucked at the nearest end.

“Thanks, but she'll be fine without,” he drawled slowly.

“You should bring her some flowers!” The receptionist babbled on, while the man tried his damndest to ignore her piercing sing-song voice. “We have these  _beautiful_  bouquets that just light up the room!”

000 grimaced, only slightly amazed at how unaware the girl was of his absolute disinterest in doing so or even in continuing this conversation with her.

“I don't think so,” he groaned, turning to continue his walk to the elevator. “She's - uhh, she's allergic. No flowers.”

“How about a balloon?” She chipped in, not a millisecond later, smiling brightly. “Balloons are harmless fun!”

“Nah, nothing doing,” 000 continued on without looking back. “They remind her of drifloons. She had a bad experience as a kid, you understand.”

“How about a plush teddiursa? Any girl would  _love_  that!” The girl pulled herself out of the window and was yelling at him down the hallway. “Just imagine how much that'd brighten her day! She'd forgive you for sure!”

000 shuffled to a stop, glaring back at the girl, but only noticing the decent congregation of people spread around in the waiting room - who were staring straight at him, expressions colored with disappointment and shame. As 000 moved his gaze across the room, people averted their eyes from him, looking anywhere but at the heartless fiancé who refused to buy his darling a simple present.

000’s crimson eyes snapped to the hefty girl, who was holding on to the edge of the window with this unbearable, jolly smile glued to her face. He narrowed his eyes at her, the both of them knowing damn well that she'd won.

000 stomped unceremoniously back to the reception window as the girl slunk back into her chair, straightening out her skirt.

“Pardon me a second,  _ma'am_ ,” he hissed under his breath.

“Yes?” She looked up to him, batting her pretty eyes his direction as a sly smile spread across her face. “Can I help you, sir?”

000 closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. “Could you do me a favor and - for just a few minutes - watch over all these papers?” He smiled at her, fully aware it looked more like a snarl than anything else.

“Oh, certainly!” She clapped her hands together and raised her voice for the rest of the room to hear, 000 jolting in embarrassment as she did so. “Where will you be going to while I hold on to these items for you, sir?”

000 leaned on the counter putting a hand to his forehead, his face redeeming slightly as he could feel the eyes of everyone in the room focusing on him again. “To the gift store,” he mumbled, just loud enough for her to hear.

The woman clapped her hands together once more. “Oh, what a fine gentleman you are! Going to buy a gift for your  _ailing_  fiancée, what a fine man!” 000 bit his cheek as he heard a scattered applause start behind him in the waiting room.

He glanced up at the lady, who was smiling like a glameow after catching a starley in its mouth, his face twisted up in utter annoyance at her little show. “Thank you  _so very_  much,” he managed through clenched teeth.

“My pleasure,” she bowed her head slightly at him as 000 stalked away to the the gift shop.

 

* * *

 

000 glanced around the small room in fatigue, having no idea at all what he was looking for.

A bunch of bouquets were set up on the far wall of the shop and, he admitted the receptionist may have been right, they were just about every color of the rainbow. Bright. Beautiful. Vibrant. And they smelled amazing. He walked along the wall briefly before turning away.

_Flowers weren't his style._

That is, if he really meant to buy a gift for somebody, of course. This was just for show, thanks to that vile nurse and that pudgy receptionist and!... He sighed, losing steam and not interested in wasting time raging over those ladies further. 000 rolled his shoulders and focused on the shop's other offerings.

_Besides, Lola didn't seem like a delicate flower sort of girl._

There were boxes of candy set all about, but he didn't even know where to start with that.  _Hell, he knew nothing about her_. Like he'd take a risk at getting her a box of chocolate and having her throw it in his face….

_Nah, something softer would do… Just in case._

He stared up at the menagerie of ‘ _get well soon_ ’ balloons floating in the corner by the cashier. All sorts of colors and patterns were just an unwelcome pain on his eyes and he quickly glanced away, already done considering that thought.

As 000 turned around, he faced a small collection of plush toys that were holding hearts with silly little sayings on them. 000 glared down at the toys, beyond annoyed that he had stooped to this level just for this... girl.

This random, blue-haired Faller.

_Who knew his birth name._

000 was mumbling something to himself -  _Why am I here? What the hell am I doing with my life?_  - as he picked up an overstuffed, plush teddiursa that looked far too much like the annoying receptionist and he groaned. He shoved the plush back into its spot, perhaps a little too hard, and as the line of toys made way for the rejected teddiursa, something fell off the side of the display, with a soft  _thup_.

000 quickly bent down, reaching out blindly for the plush from around the display. His fingers easily found the smooth fabric and he snatched it up between his hands. 000 stood up without ever looking at the thing. He was eyeing up a spot to shove the plush when its silver coloration caught his eye.

000 turned the soft plush around in his hand and he stared at it in genuine surprise.

It was an Alolan meowth.

His throat tightened in a way he wasn't familiar with and he glanced down at the heart its dainty paws were clutching on to, reading the embroidered words aloud with a smirk on his face:

“ _Meowch! Get well soon_!”

000 tossed the plush between his hands, a satisfied smile pulling across his lips. He tucked the thing under his arm as he approached the cashier, not at all aware that his smile wasn't fading away.

 

 

* * *

 

000 tried to keep his head down as he returned to the waiting room. He made it peacefully to the reception window where he cried out in shock, finding the evil nurse - Loni - and the chubby receptionist - Meia - both smirking at him in delight. Their eyes wandered down to the plastic bag in his hand, but neither said a word.

They didn't have to - their contented grins said enough.

Without saying anything, Meia stood up and handed 000 his paperwork. He grunted, nodding his head quickly before setting off to the elevator. He was grateful to find one of the two elevators was sitting in wait on the lobby level and he hopped straight in. 000 released a pent up breath as he hit the second floor button and the doors began to close.

But before they shut entirely, 000’s hair stood on end as he heard the two ladies begin cackling in laughter. The doors  _clacked_  shut and 000 scowled.

_Those ladies had played him like a fiddle!_

He dipped his head forward - more disappointed in himself and his resolve than anything. 000 caught a glimpse at his unfortunate reflection caught between the crack of the elevator doors and groaned. His face was still miserably ruddy from embarrassment… He had a good deal of pride - he wouldn't dare and let the Faller see him like this!

000  _squashed_  the paperwork against his chest, finding a soft resistance between his body and the papers as he did so. 000 sighed, having forgotten he put the stuffed meowth on top of all the paperwork those horrible ladies -  _those villainesses_! - had thrusted upon him.

But, he smiled briefly. A warm feeling escaping into his chest as he thought about the stupid, cute plush caught between his arms.

The elevator slowed to a stop and  _dinged_  politely before opening the doors to the second floor. 000 breathed deeply, steadily bringing his emotional state to its floor level before stepping out onto the sterile tile floor.

He turned to his left and robotically marched down the hall, stopping before the room marked ‘221.’

000 suddenly felt fidgety, all too aware of the messy state he was still in. The agent swiftly ran a hand through his hair, attempting one last time to flatten it down and gain control over the dark mass. He stood up straight, adjusting his posture to what would be the Agency's standard, and pressed the paperwork against his chest. The soft plush pressed gently against his nervous heart as he turned the knob and walked back into to Lola's room.

“Hey, honey,” he said, a weak smirk plastered onto his face. “I'm home.”

As soon as the door had parted, Lola swiveled her gaze from the window to the agent, her turquoise eyes again burning viciously into his soul. She had been sitting on the side of the bed, gazing out of the window but she swiftly twisted her legs over the other side of bed, towards 000 at the door. A soft smile parted on her lips as he closed the door behind himself.

000 found his smile fading as her eyes stared unblinkingly into his. Lola tossed a wave of blue hair behind her shoulder, her eyes taking on a devilish gleam.

“Nanu,” she started while patting at her side on the bed, now eyeing him along with the paperwork and the plastic bag rather suspiciously. “Welcome back. Ooh, but do come sit next to me: I have good news to share with you!”

_Was that a… grin starting on her face?_

For some reason, 000 just couldn't understand the expression she was pulling. It was a very… eerie look that was trapped in her playful eyes.

“OK,” 000 placed his handful of items on the counter, taking with him only the plastic bag. Without a fight, he took Lola up on her offer and sat besides her on her bed, it squeaked slightly as his added weight dipped the center of the bed lower.

“But first, here's somethin’ for ya, girl. Sorry if I was too mean to ya earlier today.” He procured the plush meowth from the bag and he slowly put it in her awaiting hands - her eyes were glittering, looking absolutely overjoyed.

“Oh, Nanu, a meowth! From you, this is truly gift from the heart.” She read the embroidery on its heart and her face lit up in a charming smile. “I'll always treasure this - what a lovely gift, thank you!” Lola hugged the plush tightly before setting it to her side.

000 relaxed, gratefully that didn't go poorly, at least.

“And don't worry, I forgive you.” Lola leaned against him, wrapping her hand around his arm. “You know I could never be mad at you for long.”

000 nodded, totally unsure of what to say.

“Great,” he clapped his hands together over his lap, trying to keep himself contained in a small area without encroaching upon any more of Lola's space and start a new thread of conversation. “Now you said you needed to tell me somethin’, right? Well, I need to talk to you too, so this is good timing.”

Apparently, she didn't care about how little space he took up. Lola swiftly threw herself into 000's lap and latched her arms around his shoulders. The agent grew stiff as Lola's eyes lit up in excitement, her face far too close to his.

“Wonderful! But let me go first, please,” 000 nodded dumbly as she stroked his sallow cheek. “It's very good news, after all!”

“Alright,” he tried to gently put her hand down, but as his hand lifted away from hers, he found her fingers were clasped tightly in between his. “You first.”

“The doctor just stopped by while you were out and he said I'm doing just fine. They don't need to keep me here any longer at all and I can go home, well, whenever!” Her face somehow crept even closer to his.

000 tried to lean away from her, but she chased him mercilessly. Lola grasped around his head and neck -  _at least he could feel his poor hand again_! - and she pulled him flush against her.

“That means  _we_  can finally go home.” The girl buried her face against his shoulder. “This terrible day can finally come to an end!”

000's head was spinning.  _Didn't she remember anything about their conversation? Didn't she realize something was wrong? Was she just ignoring it?_  A knot grew in his stomach, dreading having to bring all this back to the surface again.

“Now,” the blue haired Faller drew away from him and smiled eagerly to his face. “What do you have to say, my darling?”

000’s mouth screwed up into a weak smile as he nervously tried to find the right words to say without risking setting her off. There was no easy, simple way of putting any of this. 000 sighed and prepared for the worst.

“Lola,” he tried carefully, gently peeling the girl from his body. “You’re not going to like hearing me say this, but you can't go home.”

Lola shook her head in confusion. “Nanu? I'm sorry, but - what are you talking about? Of course we can and -,”

000 rubbed his eyes and shifted his attention wholeheartedly back to the girl. “I'm going to be blunt with ya. I'm not your fiancé and you have no home here - you don't even belong in this dimension.”

A dark look passed through Lola's eyes, as if a memory of some sort returned to her mind.

“You came through an Ultra Wormhole today and I found you half-dead in the ocean. I'm not the person you think I am. I mean, you got my name right, sure, but I don't know you at all. Today is the first time I've ever seen you! I don't know where you came from, but this ain't the world you're familiar with,” he continued, hoping to spark some sort of recollection in her, but feeling incredibly guilty for being the one who had to deliver these lines.

“Lola, do you understand what I'm saying?”

“No, but - but that isn't possible,” Lola hopped off the bed and slowly crept across the room until her back was pressed against the far wall. “You said it couldn't happen - it wouldn't happen…” The girl grabbed at her forehead, her chest heaving with ragged breaths. “ _You told me I was going to be OK_!”

000 leapt off the bed and carefully approached the Faller. “Lola? What are you saying?” He delicately took a hold of her wrist, gently lowering her hand from clawing at her face. “You can talk to me, Lola, what happened?”

The girl looked up to the agent's face, her eyes hallow in fear. Her mouth cracked into an unsettling smile as tears came to the corner of her eyes.

“You killed me, Nanu.  _You killed me_!”


	6. Giving up The Ghost Or The Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Man will never learn to believe in hope when he could simply live in fear, instead._
> 
>  
> 
> _For even as the moonlight cuts a few ominous shadows in the dark, it brightens the world and lessens the true evil of the night itself._
> 
> _Naturally, man would choose to close his curtains and drown his world in pure darkness rather than take a risk and allow moonlight in as to dispel his groundless fears._
> 
> _And such is the stupidity that is man._
> 
> (So sorry this update has taken a while!! I'm nearly done with the following chapter so I must apologize for posting a lot in such a short time frame after leaving this story be for so long! Gah!! Sorry sorry!! But, anyways! Please do enjoy!~)

Dreams were for silly children, hopeful youths and foolish idiots.

In fact, dreams were nothing more than beams of light, hovering just above you and out of reach. Should you ever manage to trap one close enough in your grasp, the moment you touch it, you would realize it was nothing more than an illusion in the first place. All you'd feel was the warmth in your hand as a mocking reminder of what would never come to be. They're something too ideal that you would never have been able to obtain in the first place.

Silly, hopeful, foolish things - that's what dreams are.

Or, that's how 000 saw it, at least.

Dreams very rarely visited the damned and, as such, they tended not to stop by one particular apartment building in Malie City. Apartment number 73 on the fourth floor of the well-kept Kahi Maluhia housing complex partially overlooked both the ocean and the world-renowned Malie Gardens, yet the resident thereof had never taken notice, as the curtains were almost always drawn while the worn-down man inside trudged about his miserable days. As a matter of fact, he probably wasn't even aware that he had a balcony attached to his flat - not that he would have used it for anything more but another place to smoke, that is.

After a life of such darkness and bloody disasters, 000 had long since given up the hopes of seeing some far off magical land when he closed his eyes to rest at night. He knew there would only be nothing good to greet him in the endlessly dark abyss, just as he assumed would be waiting on the other side of his windows.

It would be silly, hopeful and foolish to imagine otherwise.

Now, nightmares, on the other hand, they were different. They were eager. They were always lingering just out of view. They were like a pack of hungry mightyena relentlessly chasing down a weak animal of prey.

In the end, there was no avoiding them.

Nightmares seemed to lie in wait everywhere for 000. They were tucked away behind every corner in the town, hiding behind signposts, buildings, and darkened windows. And it wasn’t much different in his apartment, either. Nightmares followed 000 from room to room, hiding in cabinets and tiny dark spaces as soon as he turned around to look - always just out of view, but far too close for comfort. Those few times when 000 would be too weak to continue on, the moment his head hit the pillow, they would swoop in and attack, bringing fresh horrors and old regrets to the forefront of his mind every time.

It comes as no surprise that 000 usually chose to actively avoid sleep and keep away from his bed at all costs, instead choosing to spend his nights by more productive means while looking over case files at his kitchen table. He told co-workers that he suffered from insomnia whenever they probed too deeply about why he always seemed so tired or why he had such deep bags under his eyes or why he drank so much coffee. He never told them his insomnia was by choice, but these nobodies had no reason to know that. So, he drank himself sleepless, hoping to avoid accidentally catching a few winks, should those demons of his rise up and decide to strike in the night.

But, this day was a special sort of nightmare itself. After enduring hours of nonsense over the Faller that had been tossed into his world, 000 felt he had been beaten within an inch of his life. He had lived through weeks and weeks of torture leading up to the very moment Lola had appeared out of an Ultra Wormhole and, truth be told, 000 was willing and ready to sleep long into the following day, no matter what nightmares would be lying in wait by his pillow.

What made it even worse was the furfrou and ponyta show he had to go through the day before, just to have the girl released into his care - not that he wanted her stuck with him, certainly not! 000 was a lone lycanroc and operated best on his own. Having someone stuck with him - especially one cheerful, chipper girl like Lola - was akin to torture. Alone was how he lived and how he would die, 000 would say determinedly. That was just how it was for him.

Rather than have his own way, though, 000 knew that he had to keep the Faller safe until 100kr arrived. Then, they together could come up with some sort of plan for the girl, who had been cast out by time and space itself. But in the meanwhile and even in the end, there was no denying it: Lola would be much safer with 000 than staying by herself at the hospital.

Arceus only knows that 000 would have been happy to complain and say he would walk away and never look back at the hospital staff or the Faller herself again, but…

000 knew he was lying to himself. The girl was a pretty, little enigma that he wanted so desperately to break. She was driving him absolutely mad with questions from the moment they met, but thereafter, once she uttered his birth name, 000 felt himself crack.

After he had been hired by INTERPOL, as part of his original contract agreement, all of 000's original documents were legally “lost” - meaning they were arduously collected, organized and burned by 000's hand alone - and “Nanu” didn't exist anymore. He was gone. Or maybe he never existed at all. The last evidence of him swept away in the form of ashes in the breeze on one balmy, summer night, vanishing into the depths of the hungrily awaiting sea. Anyone who had known 000 by his legal name was long gone at this point, too.

“Nanu” was officially nothing but dust in the wind. So, hearing this fiery, young lady call him by this name was that much more bizarre. It was utterly impossible - yet, it had indeed happened. As naturally as saying the sky is blue, she had looked him sternly in the eye and called him “Nanu.” With that, she opened up a fine can of wurmples. The biggest issue being that she was engaged to 000 in another dimension, reality, or what-have-you.

Despite everything, that's why 000 became transfixed on her. She knew too much about him and he was dying to know how and why. Well, that, and the fact that she was certain he had killed her, which added a fun, new element into their already odd enough game.

But after trying to gently inform her of her interesting situation back in the hospital room, Lola had been pulled into the inky, dark recesses of her own subconscious. She laughed hysterically as she rocked back and forth on her feet, lost to some place 000 could never physically reach while she repeated over and over again that he had killed her.

000 had held tightly onto the girl's arms, trapping her in place until she sunk into a deep silence. 000 had seen his fair share of horrors and knew that she was responding to traumatic memories that now put her in a state of shock. He spoke gently to the girl as he clasped onto her hands, begging her to focus and speak to him once more. It took some shaking of her shoulders, a cookie and a large cup of soda from the cafeteria and 000 sitting next to her on the tight hospital bed and humming some old tune to bring her back from a very dark place.

As she came back to her senses, the girl latched onto 000 so tightly and ever so desperately that he willingly embraced her in return. Lola's pale, trembling figure reminding him all too much of another Faller from another time and place in his life - the one that the young INTERPOL agent couldn't save, the one for whom 000 would have given his life if he could have only held her once more.

But, this wasn't her.

No, 000's beloved Faller was dead. No matter how sick he became as he saw her death repeated time after time in his mind, until he could count each individual drop of blood that fell from her wounds, he would never be able to get her back. He couldn't alter her death or the course of time. He knew he couldn't have changed what occurred, he never could have intercepted that poor women's death.

Instead, 000 held another in his arms.

Lola was a scares young lady and a living, breathing Faller who would invariably need his help. She was lost, frightened and weak, just as his Faller had been when she first came through her UW. 000 adjusted his hold on Lola as she pressed herself into his chest, clutching onto his shirt as a few sobs wracked through her body. For just a moment, 000 let himself slip into another time that never was as he held onto his Faller once more. He wrapped his arms tightly around Lola and pressed his lips to the top of her head.

It was all he could do to stop himself from crying, as well.

As 000 stroked her hair and whispered calmly to her that everything would be fine, he decided then that he would take a personal interest in Lola's safety, in an effort to figure her out and perhaps help clear his conscious in the meanwhile.

Once she had pulled away from him and gave him a peck on the cheek as thanks, 000 pushed his ego aside and went down to the front desk. It took all of his power to keep himself from shattering the glass between him and the chubby receptionist as he agreed to take the girl home and admitted - with what was probably his fakest smile ever, just for the record - that his denial of being her fiancee was all a big joke. 000 successfully stepped into his most charming facade and told the two heinous nurses the extent of his joke had gone as far as leaving her in a hospital gown to fool her into thinking she had amnesia and, after some _serious_ schmoozing on his part and a stern scolding by the nurses, he convinced the ladies to rummage through the laundry in the hospital's lost and found, so he could being Lola home in something less conspicuous than a pastel green gown.

The nurses, Loni and Meia, had continued their streak of attempting to push the agent past his breaking point as they stalked him back to the Faller's room with an overly joyful chansey, then marshalled him out of the room and locked 000 out in the hallway with the last of the paperwork, insurance information and payment receipts he needed to fill out. 000 reluctantly sat cross legged on the cold tile flooring, almost filling the narrow walkway by himself -  even with his relatively short stature - and after some grumbling and groaning, he sighed wearily and got to work.

He had finished all the paperwork about three minutes before the door to Lola's room _clicked_ open, and yet he hadn't been able to prepare himself for that moment she would walk out of the door. 000's foolish heart leapt into his throat as the girl emerged, with the two snickering nurses and one beaming chansey hiding behind the Faller.

The girl was dressed in a frilly, short-sleeved blouse that was designed with a light-pink floral pattern. She had chosen a pair of dark denim shorts that cuffed at the ends and a simple pair of tan, strappy sandals. She had tied her ocean blue hair into a set of braids and she had set a large brimmed straw hat on top of her head. She graciously thanked the two nurses as 000 gawked at her - the girl had gone from looking like a near-death drowning victim to this, after all! She was an absolute picture of health. Lola giggled as she looked back to 000, who wasn't able to force on a neutral expression before she looked his way.

“Hey,” she bent down slightly and offered her hand to the agent. “You ready to go home?”

000 nodded stupidly and carefully took the girl's freckled hand. Though she was much smaller and more delicate than he, she still pulled him gracefully off the ground. 000 stood there, slightly in shock as she moved her hand to his back and gave him a hug from the side.

The two nurses began speaking excitedly to Lola and maybe even directly to 000, but he was deaf to the noise. Suddenly, all that he could make out was Lola's airy laughter as she responded to the two women.

000 was caught somewhere else between real life and the foggy layers of his inner mind as he watched the girl chatter on. He couldn't place why, but she pooled memories of his first partner to the front of his mind. He felt as though he was drifting far, far away with the memory of her alone.

At a tug of his arm, Lola brought 000 back to earth and she gently reminded him about the paperwork he still clutched in his fists. He thrust the paperwork into Meia's pudgy hands, gave a slight bow and thanked the women before latching onto Lola and steering her toward the elevator - all too eager to end this day and get himself and the girl out of their predatory sight.

As they walked hand in hand out of the hospital lobby, 000 tried to remind himself that this would only be temporary - his being glued to the blue-haired Faller's side was not a permanent situation. Even if she knew him in some other dimension, this version of him owed her nothing, at all. He promised himself that wouldn't get attached and that he wouldn't become involved.

After a lifetime of very limited social relations, 000 could surely manage that easily.

Unlike with his first partner, 000 swore he would not fall into the same trap again. He'd stay professional - impersonal, even. He'd turn Lola to HQ, then happily wipe his hands clean of her and go on his merry way. He wouldn't let this Faller come to harm in the meanwhile. After all, he only had to survive one measly day with the girl before they'd part ways for good.

One day - which was already more than over. In a few hours, the sun would set and a few short hours later, 100kr would arrive on land and the girl would be that much closer to being scraped off of his plate and dumped on his superiors.

One day - that was it!

But…

000 knew deep inside his soul that he was already bound to fail.

Nothing in his life could ever be so simple.


	7. To Live a Caged Life or Choose a Free Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ _He glanced back at the wall. How like a mirror, too, her face. Impossible; for how many people did you know who reflected your own light to you? People were more often--he searched for a simile, found one in his work--torches, blazing away until they whiffed out. How rarely did other people's faces take of you and throw back to you your own expression, your own innermost trembling thought?_ ”
> 
> ― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

The walk back to 000's apartment was supposed to be short and easy - all things considered - as Malie City was quite compact, in a charming, old fashioned sort of way. The agent was never especially fond of his hometown growing up, but he lived through a dirty, challenging youth. To him, the city was nothing but a cruel reminder of how fickle life could be.

After joining INTERPOL, 000 had been whisked away and thrown halfway across the world as part of his first assignment. The young man drank and celebrated his escape from his shoddy hometown, refusing to admit to anyone besides his partner that it was definitely a major culture shock when he left the Alola region for the first time. He had always felt out of place since his parents kicked him out as a kid and standing in a huge city, the likes of which could never exist in Alola for so many reasons, 000 again felt like a scared young child, completely unsure of his fate. It took all his willpower to struggle through the language barriers and culture gaps until he began to find his place in the world. And after a few months of running around Kalos, he almost felt homesick for Ula'ula in all its simplicity, but no one would ever know the truth.

In the ten plus years since he had first left Ula'ula, 000 truly had seen the world. His passport bore the stamps of every region and he had collected magnets from each of the towns and cities he was dragged through - his fridge now bore the souvenirs of his travels. He'd gotten a chance to experience sprawling countrysides, towering cities, and everything in between - including a city in the trees, which specifically caught his fancy for the impressive level of solitude it presented alone.

He had met many people that were eager to share their cultures, he tried so many bafflingly delicious dishes and had seen pokémon he never would have believed existed without seeing them with his own eyes. And his job was tough, serious work, don't be fooled otherwise. He went through hell and high waters daily to complete his missions, but his travels made him feel alive for the first time since his depressing youth. He had a purpose - he was not a waste of air, despite what his asshole of a father had said after throwing the young boy out onto the street one miserably stormy night - and as 000, he felt like he had a second chance at life.

But, when it was all said and done, 000 was quite old fashioned himself. After travelling from Kalos to Hoenn to Unova then from Sinnoh to Kanto to Johto, 000 had found himself wandering from town to town with an aching desire to return to his home.

It was just sheer luck that one of his senior agents tracked him down in Ecruteak City, where he was offered a chance to return to his home. He graciously accepted the offer as it was presented to him and 000 was immediately deployed to Ula'ula, where he was told to make himself comfortable and be INTERPOL's eyes in Alola.

So, there was something that could be said for returning to his old haunting ground, even with the dark memories of his youth lingering in the shadows and alleyways of the city. After travelling around nearly the entirety of the world, 000 was excited to return to his easy going island life, tucked away in this little corner of the world. After all, 000 was a simple man. He planned to live and die on Ula'ula - that is, if he had anything to say about it. He was happiest living like a boulder, immobile and stuck in one place where he could settle down and grow moss until his dying day.

Travelling around the world had certainly opened his eyes and 000 was thankful for what he had been through, but, at the end of the day, he found he wasn't meant for globetrotting and sightseeing. Whereas anyone would have killed to experience 000's young adult life with INTERPOL, 000 was happy to lay that life down and return to Malie City. He simply had no way of knowing that fate had dragged him to back to his hometown just in time to rescue and resuscitate a blue-haired Faller and be stuck with all the chaos that was slowly unfolding, of course.

And here he was, leading her through the city streets by the hand, as the girl kept getting distracted by the smells and sounds of the city. After going through hell in the hospital, he'd be damned if he'd lose the girl on a simple walk back to his flat.

After passing a number of restaurants, 000 eventually gave in to Lola's begging and she enthusiastically dragged him into a malasada shop to enjoy a bite to eat. 000 stepped back and watched as the girl babbled with a server, trying to decide what she wanted to order. He chuckled to himself, the girl was so animated as she spoke - she could probably go through twenty different emotions a minute. He had just slumped against a wall as she finally placed an order and she reclaimed his hand, forcing him to the register to pay for her food.

000 was used to demanding senior agents and being forced to do things against his will, but for some odd reason, he wasn't too off put by the way this girl treated him. In fact, he hated to admit it, he found her pushy sort of attitude kind of endearing. It was rather refreshing to be around someone who wasn't scared or made uncomfortable by the crimson-eyed agent, even if he felt a bit out of place at his own expense.

After collecting her food, Lola strolled over to a booth by a window, 000 forced his hands in his pockets and followed after her. Her eyes were comically large as she examined her pastry, turning it over again and again in her hands before taking the first bite and her eyes fluttered to a close as she bit into the haupia-filled center. 000 couldn't help but smirk at her as she returned from her sugar-based high, her pale face taking on a pink-tint as her eyes met his.

As if in defiance of his grin, she stuck her tongue out at the agent and took another large bite of the malasada. He looked the girl over as she munched on her treat, realizing that this was the first time she had been quiet by her own means, which was a damn good break for the agent.

But 000 felt a pull, a need to ask what was on her mind, but another part of the agent told him that evening was approaching and reminded 000 that he was in dire need of sleep. Elongating their time at the restaurant would only eat away at the precious hours of night. But, he had to admit that he was intrigued by her. Maybe a little conversation wouldn't hurt… He sighed and stared out the window as life continued as normal, his eyes staring past the hustle and bustle of the day as he swirled around the thoughts in his head, uncomfortably aware that the girl was watching him the whole while.

"Whatcha lookin' at me for?" He turned his head quickly, a knowing smirk on his face as he caught the girl staring at him. "Ain't nothin' to see here."

"Oh!" He grinned wider as he caught her so smartly off guard. The girl choked down another bite. "I was just thinking about you - er, the other you - the one I'm engaged to." She tried to shrug it off casually, but he could easily see her features twisting up in discontentment. "I'm a little confused, that's all."

"C'mon, you can talk to me, girl," 000 stretched out in his seat placing his hands behind his head. "What's on your mind? I mean, what's _really_ on your mind?"

Lola set her malasada down and exhaled deeply. "I can't remember much of what happened right before I woke up on the beach with you, but…" she trailed off and glanced out to the busy street. "I know you - er, he - had done something bad to me. He tried to kill me and I don't know why." She looked up to him, her eyes sparkling with the beginning of tears. "I don't know what went wrong. Everything had been going so well! We had moved in together, we were engaged, and we were happy - I'm sure of it! But…"

000 nodded silently, unsure how to comfort the girl.

"I'm worried now that everything was somehow an elaborate lie," she wrung her hands together, no longer able to keep her anxiety under control. "That he was using me from the start." She shivered involuntarily. "Arceus, I hope not."

000 shifted forward in his seat and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry yourself too much about it. You're here now and you're safe."

"That's not the problem, though!" Lola had raised her voice and everyone in the building silenced, turning to her as if a spotlight had been fixed on their booth. "That doesn't fix anything with me being here now! He still tried to kill me! It's still eating away at my mind!"

"Whatever happened, happened," 000 lowered his voice as he responded, the patrons of the restaurant slowly started going on with their business as normal as their short lived show ended. "Whatever I - him - you know who I mean - was gonna do to you, it clearly didn't work. Instead, you wound up here with me and I'm gonna look out for ya. You don't need to worry about him."

She shook her head violently, a tear threatening to run down her cheek in the process. "No, Nanu, you don't understand!" Her voice had taken on a sharp whisper. "I spent years with him, trusting my life to him and he turned on me! Do you understand? That's not something I can just forget!"

"I understand better than you know, girl," 000 nodded, still uncomfortable with her calling him by that name. "But, holdin' on to those worries and fears ain't gonna fix anything. I'm sayin' this from experience, alright?" He hesitantly reached across the table and took her hands in his. "Don't ruin the present because of the past. It ain't worth it."

Lola hiccupped and withdrew her hands to wipe at her teary eyes. 000 quickly placed a napkin in her palm and she thanked him quietly before dabbing at her face.

"I know this isn't where ya've come from and this is all probably strange and new to ya, but you can start yourself a new life. You can live free from the fear of him. You can catch some pokémon, get a job, start a family or -"

"My pokémon!" she cried out. "Rose! Oh no, I had forgotten all about her! Where is she?"

"Where is who now?" 000 asked, confused.

"My cubone!" She hissed. "Where is she?!"

"You didn't have any pokéballs with ya when I found ya," 000 responded hesitantly.

Lola grabbed at the brim of her hat a look of total horror on her face. "Oh no, oh no, oh no… That means… she's still there…"

000 cursed under his breath, he didn't even think to ask her if she had any pokémon with everything else that was going on. "Don't worry about it, girl, we'll get her somehow, someway."

"Would you stop calling me that? My name is 'Lola,' not 'girl!'" Lola glared at him and took a vicious bite of the malasada without breaking eye contact. "And how can you promise me that?" She mumbled through a mouth full of her pastry. "You don't know how to get me back to wherever I came from, so how on earth can you say we'll get Rose back?"

000 gestures with his hands to tone it down, "Listen, I don't know how we're gonna do it right now, but know this, Lola - when I make a promise, I fully intend to keep it."

Lola rubbed at her bloodshot eyes. "Do you really mean that?"

000 offered his hand to her. "I promise."

Lola took his hand and they shook, 000 realizing all too late that he had promised her the impossible… but he couldn't bring himself to let her down.

"Now, c'mon and eat up. I don't know 'bout you, but I'm bushed. Let's call this day 'done.'"

"Alright." Lola smiled weakly and took a small bite of what was left of her pastry. She didn't look fully convinced, but she was willing to trust him and that was good enough for now.

000 leaned back in his seat once more, quietly cursing at himself for already getting so personally invested in another Faller's life. He promised himself he wouldn't let this happen, yet here he was making the same damn mistakes he had done years prior.

But, 000 reasoned with himself, even if he got too close to the girl, all he had to do was simply ensure that what happened to his old partner could never possibly occur for Lola. He would have to put his feelings aside and turn her over to HQ. She wouldn't be all too happy being trapped in such a sterile, cold environment, but she'd be safe and healthy, which couldn't be said for his old partner, who died painfully in the line of duty.

It was simple - he only had a few hours left with the girl before 100kr would arrive in Alola and 000 would be forced to part with his emotions and the Faller for good. They'd have a nice, little heartfelt goodbye and both go their separate ways. He wouldn't stop her from leaving and he would be calm and under control of himself and certainly  _not_  start up any of his usual funny business to get her off the hook with a loophole or some other type of distraction.

Then, Lola wouldn't follow him into battle. She'd be locked up in a heavily monitored room where her death wasn't looming behind every corner. She'd live to a ripe old age and never have to risk being torn to shreds by a raging UB, which, after witnessing first hand, was a fate 000 couldn't wish on anyone, even his most hated foes.

000 glanced outside at the world passing by in a rush, already pissed at himself for thinking too much of the girl. She was so young and full of life. It was a terrible idea to imagine caging her and letting her soul burn away until she'd be nothing but a husk of her former self. But, 000 had no actual ties with this girl - he couldn't let himself get wrapped up in emotions around her just because she knew his true name and she was engaged to some jerky version of himself in another reality.

Lola wasn't his problem.

Sure, she'd probably despise a life of being monitored 24/7 on CCTV with minimal distractions and being quarantined in a windowless room deep inside a government facility, but he owed it to Lola and his late Faller that she'd be given an option to live. It didn't matter shit if you were able to live freely outdoors if your death was lingering maybe only days away. It would be better for her to live a bland, unexciting life just so she could keep living.

Or, that's what 000 had been taught to think.

His eyes were drawn back to the girl who was brushing the sugary dust off of her hands and face, blissfully unaware of the distressed look caught in the agent's eyes. He hated himself for already considering options for how he could cock this all up and create a third option of some sort, where the girl wasn't doomed to choose a free death or a caged life.

Did this young woman deserve a chance to live?  _Yes, most absolutely._

Did she deserve the miserable life he would be serving unto her if he handed her back to HQ?  _No fuckin' way_.

000 sighed wearily as he tried to push her out of his mind, yet the grinning blue-haired Faller was rooted already deep in his head, refusing to leave.

 _Arceus above,_  he thought to himself,  _tomorrow can't come soon enough._


End file.
